“Pipi.”
A voice tinged with absurdity came from across from Formo. Serdin frowned as if his mood was unpleasant, but what did it matter? Formo had simply put into action the answer he’d come up with after using his head in his own way…….
“Chirp?”
[Why?]
When Formo asked back innocently, Serdin’s face became worth watching. It had twisted slightly. Formo stared at Serdin intently. Serdin’s eyes were sparkling with a subtle light. Seeing that gaze, Formo felt strangely uncomfortable.
After lunch was over, Formo was having his body checked by Serdin again. Still, it was a completely different feeling from showing his naked body in human form, so he felt much better than before. When he left his body to him as if to say “do as you please,” Serdin, who had been examining Formo’s body by rummaging through his fluffy feathers one by one, pulled back his upper body.
“Chirp!”
[That’s enough!]
Formo asked sharply while busily shaking his tail feathers. Even if he felt a little better than when in human form, it was still embarrassing. It wasn’t just a cursory look but a thorough examination, rummaging through each feather, making it even more awkward. The corners of Serdin’s mouth, which had been running over Formo’s small, round body, suddenly rose crookedly.
At the smile that gave an ominous feeling, Formo unconsciously shrank his body.
“Pipi.”
At the excessively affectionate call, Formo narrowed his brows. His tail feathers trembled. He had a bad feeling. Somehow, a sensation wrapped around his entire body that he’d made the wrong choice.
“Want to come in here?”
Formo’s gaze followed the tip of Serdin’s finger. Soon, the place his gaze reached was the pocket of the coat Serdin was wearing for once. Was this wretched jaguar urging him to come into the pocket? He clearly thinks of him as a pet. There’s a limit even to everything. Formo glared at Serdin with absurd eyes.
“Chirp! Cheep!”
[You want to try me? If you keep doing that, I’ll really peck you!]
Formo’s eyes gleamed fiercely. If Serdin spouted nonsense or pulled any tricks, he planned to immediately rush at him and peck his cheeks and head. As if reading Formo’s thoughts, Serdin shrugged his shoulders.
“If you don’t want to, then don’t.”
“Chirp!”
[Of course I don’t want to!]
Formo turned his head sharply and stuck out his beak. What kind of long-tailed tit in the world would say the inside of a pocket is nice and tuck themselves inside? Serdin had got him completely wrong. Formo’s chest rose and fell busily, letting out labored breaths.
“But Pipi.”
What is that wretched jaguar trying to say now? Formo’s gaze turned toward Serdin.
“Don’t you want to go see the office?”
“Cheep.”
[I already saw it.]
Formo responded indifferently.
“I brought a new toy into the office yesterday, and I’m asking because I thought you’d like it, Pipi.”
“Cheeeep?”
[I like toys?]
Of course, it was true that Serdin had obtained a fairly chewable branch from somewhere at the Detached Palace. He’d had quite a fun time with it too. But he could say with certainty that Formo was not a long-tailed tit who would be captivated by toys and go crazy. Formo snorted and glanced at Serdin sideways.
It was funny how Serdin was using toys as a means to lure him out somehow. A toy is just a toy, what would be different? Even while muttering, Formo flew flutteringly to Serdin’s coat pocket and settled inside.
It wasn’t that he desperately wanted the toy or anything; he just intended to take a look at what this toy Serdin was so confident about looked like. Formo coughed softly and wiggled his bottom to find a comfortable position. Then he struggled with all his might, straining to stick his head out of the coat pocket.
However, the pocket of the coat Serdin was wearing was deep, and Formo was small. In other words, it meant that Formo’s head wouldn’t be able to stick out of the coat pocket. Formo clicked his tongue softly, tsk, as if reproaching Serdin for preparing such a long-tailed tit-unfriendly coat, and shook his tail feathers dissatisfiedly.
Still, inside the pocket was quite cozy and warm, and appropriately dark, giving a sense of security. Formo blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to grasp the movements of Serdin who had put him in the pocket. However, it was difficult as he couldn’t see outside and couldn’t read the direction.
Formo glared while leaving his body to the subtly swaying pocket. If what was in the office he’d arrived at after going through such humiliation was a trashy toy, he wouldn’t let Serdin off.
“Pipi, you can come out now.”
When Serdin opened the pocket and spoke quietly, Formo got up from his spot and escaped the deep pocket. Formo looked around the office while flapping his wings, then lightly landed on the desk. His tiny feet pattered across the wooden desk.
It looked different from when he’d seen it in human form. Not only the size of the furniture but even the size of the room felt large and unfamiliar. Formo looked around the office with wide eyes, then looked at Serdin.
His eyes said to hurry up and show him the toy he’d used as a means to lure him out.
“This is it, Pipi.”
When Serdin pointed at one side of the desk with his finger, Formo’s head turned naturally. Soon, Formo’s beak gaped open as he discovered the toy Serdin had mentioned. A smooth branch of appropriate size and thickness stood upright like a real tree on a flat base. In the middle of the branch, thinner but sufficiently sturdy-looking branches extended in multiple directions.
In other words, it wasn’t a toy to play with by biting with his beak, but a toy he could climb like a real tree.
“It’s called a perch, Pipi.”
Formo, who was staring at the toy called a perch with entranced eyes, swallowed his saliva. Despite his expectation that it would be a trashy toy, Serdin had prepared something quite excellent.
“Pipi, try climbing up.”
Formo, who had been hesitating, gained courage from Serdin’s words and stepped his short feet onto the perch. A smooth texture wrapped around his feet. Soon, Formo flew up slightly and perched on top of the perch. Formo, who examined his surroundings as if observing, ruffled his feathers with satisfied eyes.
“Do you like it?”
When Serdin asked in a voice tinged with laughter, Formo nodded his head. Having confirmed that Formo’s mood had improved extremely, Serdin thought “now’s the time” and made a request, offering his cheek to the long-tailed tit.
“If you’re grateful, give me a kiss, Pipi.”
His long index finger tapped his cheek. Normally, he would have pecked his cheek with the mindset of “not a chance,” but since Serdin had done something quite satisfactory today, it wouldn’t be bad to do it once. Formo narrowed his eyes and examined Serdin, then nodded his head as if granting a favor.
In sync with the nod, Serdin’s eyes lit up. Formo stared at Serdin’s smooth cheek near his beak and swallowed his saliva. Actually, he was a little nervous since this was his first time touching beaks with someone other than family. Except for family, he’d thought the first one he’d touch beaks with would naturally be his mate and no one else…….
Formo smacked his lips with a regretful face, then brought his beak near Serdin’s sharp jawline. And after hesitating a bit, he soon lightly pressed his beak against the skin near the jaw then quickly pulled away.
“…….”
At the “kiss” that was accomplished more easily than expected, Serdin lost his words. His eyes had a dazed light, as if a screw had come loose. Serdin covered his jaw with his large hand, then let out a chuckle, pfft. Not only that, he stroked the part where Formo’s beak had touched repeatedly as if confirming something.
At the sight of Serdin looking somewhat dazed, Formo shook his head from side to side. That wretched jaguar had been displaying uncharacteristic diligence for several days saying he’d check his body, and now it seemed he’d finally lost it.
* * *
Recently, there was one rumor of unknown origin circulating in the Tersium Empire. It was that Crown Prince Serdin, who had been spending his vacation at the Detached Palace, had returned with a long-tailed tit whose entire head was white. Of course, as mentioned before, since the source of the rumor was unclear, most people laughed it off, but there were also those who took it seriously.
And by such people, the rumor drifted here and there until it even reached Chaimb, the empire of canines and predators. It was published in a gossip magazine they secretly bought and read. A different color appeared in the brown eyes of a man reading the headline written briefly but boldly in the corner of the gossip magazine.
“Even just a long-tailed tit is rare, but a long-tailed tit with an entirely white head…… It must be special.”
To think the Crown Prince of Tersium had a long-tailed tit with a rare appearance. It was very tempting. Coincidentally, didn’t the returned Crown Prince of Chaimb also have a sparrow? Thanks to that, it had spread like a trend in Chaimb to bring in small birds, train them, and then take them around. He was also one of the merchants who had greatly benefited from the trend.
If he showed this long-tailed tit to the nobles who liked to bring in and show off rare things rather than common ones…… He’d surely rake in money. The man with reddish-brown hair swept up his hair and pulled up his thin lips crookedly.
“How about it, Karticha? Doesn’t it smell like money?”
“Yes, Glensia-nim! It smells strongly of money!”
The man called Karticha, whose flesh had plumply risen, chimed in and smacked his lips.
“If we put it up for auction at our company’s secret auction, we’ll definitely make a fortune.”
Glensia, the owner of the brown hair who smiled ominously at Karticha, said as he stood up from his chair.
“Good, Karticha. Let’s start preparing to become a rich man.”
His instinct was telling him. That the opportunity to become a rich man had approached within arm’s reach. No matter how he thought about it, this was clearly an opportunity bestowed personally by the gods, so he must seize it. By any means necessary, absolutely.
